Eni and Total sign EST Technology agreement

Eni and Total have entered into a special license and R&D cooperation agreement for Eni Slurry Technology (EST). On 9 September work began to evaluate and tailor the technology to Total’s requirements.

Giacomo Rispoli, Eni’s Refining & Marketing and Chemicals Executive Vice President, Portfolio Management & Supply and Licensing, commented: “After two years of successful operation of the Sannazzaro refinery’s EST unit, the first of its kind in the world, a new, proven technology is now commercially available to be assessed as an option for upgrading the bottom of the barrel. The technology arrives more than 40 years after the existing processes were first developed and is the result of 15 years of R&D and commercial demonstrations.”

Nathali Brunelle, Senior Vice President Strategy, Development, and Research of Total Refining & Chemicals, added: “One of the challenges for refining activities is to keep pace, within an economically viable model, with trends in oil markets, especially those resulting from changing legalisation and fuel specifications. This R&D cooperation project with Eni allows Total to enhance its know-how and expertise, and to have access to another proven technology for bottom of the barrel conversion.”